


Deck of Cards for Severus

by Patolozka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Divination, M/M, Potion Ingredients, deck of cards for Severus Snape, fanart for flamethrower's Of A Linear Circle saga, from Nizar Slytherin, love letter from NIzar, tator deck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29362488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patolozka/pseuds/Patolozka
Summary: A deck of cards for Severus Snape made by Nizar Slytherin from flamethrower's Of a Linear Circle saga. Here are the cards that were written into the series. Their number is 22 in total (so far).
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Citation one

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Of a Linear Circle - Part II](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11431794) by [flamethrower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamethrower/pseuds/flamethrower). 



> Happy preValentine Days, I think this love letter from Nizar is just really perfect ;-)  
> Many thanks goes to flamethrower for writing the brilliant fic (and continuing doing so) and also for encouraging me to do this. Maybe I will continue and do some more cards (many more, I hope) with potion ingredients from Harry Potter canon. I'll see.  
> I also work on a descrition for cards but I'm not a great scientist so it's a slow and really hard work for me... It took me a month to do this cards, but I enjoyed it so much! I used akvarel pencils and akvarel water colours.

**Of a Linear Circle, book II, chapter Declaration, written by flamethrower:**

> _Nizar reaches into his robe pocket and pulls out a wrapped package that looks like several decks of Muggle playing cards stacked together. He hands it to Severus and then rests his chin on his hands again. “Those who practice Divination will tell you that unless you have some spark, some talent for Sight, you can understand the mechanics, but the mechanics are all you’ll ever know. That hasn’t been my experience.”_
> 
> _Severus hesitates before he unties the string hold_ _ing the silk-wra_ _pped bundle closed. “Oh?”_
> 
> __
> 
> _“It’s my experience that those who Divine look to a very narrow set of tools. Of course, then anyone who cannot use those tools is judged to not have the talent for it. I hold a mastery in mind magic, so my Sight manifests in the ways I’ve told you of. However, that’s what suited me. Open it.”_
> 
> _Severus gives Nizar a curious look, removing the wrapping to reveal a deck of cards. “Tarot?” he asks in bemusement, recognizing the deck by the classic Victorian pattern on the back._
> 
> _“It’s the sort of deck that would make Trelawney and her cohorts screech.” Nizar gestures at him to turn the deck over._
> 
> _“Potions ingredients.” Severus sorts through the deck quickly and sees no numbers or Arcana found in Divination’s traditional ideas of the tarot. The drawings are finely detailed and colored in an exact match of each plant—magical and non-magical—along with feathers, insects, magical creatures, stones, and…_
> 
> __
> 
> _“Dragon’s Breath of Life,” Severus whispers, finding the card at the end of the deck. He’s only ever seen crude, aged drawings of the plant. This is as crisp and pristine as it’s possible to get without finding the extinct plant in real life. The flowers are literally the color of dragon flame; the leaves and stem are the scales of the misnamed Welsh Green Dragon, imported from the south when the last of the Welsh Reds were driven into extinction._
> 
> _Dragon’s Breath of Life: so named because it was rumored to have the ability to call spirits back to their bodies, and to bring the dead back to life. Severus thinks that to be myth, but that the plant had true and legendary powers of restoration isn’t in doubt at all._
> 
> _“I’ve never seen a deck like this.”_
> 
> _“And you won’t. It’s unique. I drew it.”_
> 
> _Severus looks up in surprise. “I didn’t know you were an artist.”_
> 
> _Nizar smiles. “I’m not. I can document very well, but I’m not an artist. Coloring the images properly is a trick Helga taught me when I was still trying to learn the plants in this area.”_
> 
> _“And you think I can use this.”_
> 
> _“I believe you can, actually. You would also be considered to hold a mastery in mind magic, Severus, which is an important foundation stone of all your abilities. That being said, most Divination I’ve seen taught in this castle is showmanship and nonsense. The only thing necessary is an understanding of your tool, which is why I chose what you know best.” Nizar points at the deck. “All you need is to have a question in mind, and then draw cards only by prime numbers. More cards will gain you clearer answers, but too many will give you too much information to sort through. Even the manner in which the cards are laid out is rubbish. Choose by feel.”_
> 
> _“This is ridiculous,” Severus mutters. Fine, he’ll do it, if only to prove that he doesn’t have a speck of talent for bloody Divination. He chooses five cards from the deck while holding it facedown. His frown turns to a scowl as he does, indeed, feel a difference from one card to the next. Bugger all._
> 
> _He grits his teeth and draws until the count hits eleven, and they’re all the same theme: African violet, willow, sandalwood, ivy, mandrake, heliotrope, sagebrush, frankincense, agrimony, myrrh, and peony._
> 
> __
> 
> _Nizar watches the cards pile up on the table in bewilderment. “What the fuck did you ask?”_
> 
> _“Every. Single. Fucking. Card,” Severus growls. “I believe you now. I asked about Potter. Where is Harry James Potter?”_
> 
> _Nizar’s eyebrows go up. “Taken for protection, purification, and healing. Every single plant deals with those aspects. Well…congratulations. You got further than Albus Dumbledore in figuring out what happened to him.”_
> 
> _“But that is still taken!” Severus snaps. “Even if this nonsense about protection is true, it still didn’t answer my question!”_
> 
> _Nizar pulls forth agrimony, sandalwood, peony, sagebrush, myrrh, heliotrope, and the frankincense. “In the old days, all of these plants were thought of as assistants for banishing. Not necessarily in the ridding of evil sense, though that was also a use for them, but in…you asked where. The answer you received is how.”_
> 
> _“Why?” Severus asks, glaring down at the cards. He’s no longer concerned about any hint of Divination talent. Now he’s just infuriated because the answer was too vague._
> 
> _“I don’t know.” Nizar’s eyes flicker shut. “We didn’t call it feverfew in those days. It was adreminte.”_
> 
> _Severus watches in alarm as Nizar wavers in place and then nearly falls face-first onto the tabletop. “Nizar!”_
> 
> _Nizar snaps out of whatever he stumbled onto, dazed and blinking. “It can’t answer you. There is magic in the way that won’t allow you to find where. Only the how, the why, or the what. Not where.”_
> 
> _“Protection,” Severus says. Nizar thinks about it and nods. “From Voldemort?”_
> 
> _“That would be the most obvious threat to Potter.” Nizar shakes his head to clear it and reaches into his robe once more. “It’s useful information, but I don’t know what to do with that right now.”_

* * *

Cards for this part:


	2. Citation two

**Of a Linear Circle, book II, chapter Declaration, written by flamethrower:**

> _“I blame you for this,” Severus whispers under his breath, putting his book down long enough to grab the uppermost card from the tarot deck. It’s another plant on the card—the hawthorn tree. It has a few medicinal uses in potions, though the wood is considered more important to wand makers. However, knowing its medicinal properties also means he knows the magical lore surrounding it. Hawthorne, tree of hope…and a healing tool for broken hearts._

* * *

**Of a Linear Circle, book II, chapter Time is a Circle, written by flamethrower:**

> Severus laughs before reaching over to the tarot deck, lifting the top card and dropping it onto the table. Balm of Gilead. For once his knowledge fails him; he remembers that, much like the addition of ground unicorn horn, Balm of Gilead adds or increases the magical potency of a potion, but little else.
> 
> _Balm of Gilead_ , Severus writes. _What does it do?_
> 
> _Last bit before I have to go back to grading. For February, I’m giving the blighters extra credit if they turn in an essay two weeks early,_ Nizar replies. _Balm of Gilead – herb of protection, healer of the soul, mender of broken hearts. Cures fucking love potions and defends against Tempero. Bloody Church nearly drove it into extinction when they got it into their heads that it was a protector against everything, but it’s not. It’s far more useful for spiritual and mental pains._


	3. Citation three

**Of a Linear Circle, book II, chapter Time is a Circle, written by flamethrower:**

> _He gets dressed in clothes he just discarded, swearing under his breath, and goes out to the sitting room to put his boots back on. The Balm of Gilead card is still lying upright where he left it._
> 
> _Severus traces the fine detail of the plant and considers, once again, that he’s an idiot. The amount of time, effort, and detail that went into the creation of these cards would have answered every question he had if he’d given them a thought. The robe was a fine gift, but even if Severus had truly held the Divinatory ability of a rubbish bin, the cards are a measure of how well Nizar understands him._
> 
> _Why not? Severus draws three random cards from the deck. It can’t be any less enlightening than Lewis Carroll._
> 
> _He turns them over and bites back a grimace. Yes, it can actually be worse than an absinthe-imbibing Ravenclaw._
> 
> _Amanita phalloides, the white Death Cap mushroom. Datura stramonium, the Devil’s Snare. Conium maculatum, commonly known as Poison Hemlock._
> 
> _“Well, that’s auspicious.” Severus retrieves a few more potions from his drawer that he normally leaves in his quarters, stuffs them into an inner robe pocket, and gets out the Floo powder._


	4. Citation four

**Of a Linear Circle, book IV, chapter Compitalia, written by flamethrower:**

> _Bugger it all. After he has tea, he draws three cards from the deck and places them on the table._
> 
> _Club Moss. Often associated with power, since its spores literally explode when introduced to heat or flame, but is also used in protective potions—or used by itself, hung from the doorway like garlic’s pathetic attempts at warding off vampires._
> 
> _Guinea Pepper. Delicious on food, but brewed in potions for curses. It’s also in Veritaserum, meant for divining truth from lies, innocence from guilt._
> 
> _Devil’s Snare, Severus thinks, needs no explanation at all._

* * *

**Of a Linear Circle, book IV, chapter Plotting, written by flamethrower:**

> _Severus doesn’t deign to respond. Instead, his fingers pluck along the edges of the cards until he draws one forth and puts it on the table between the sofas. “Fuck.”_
> 
> _Black glances at it. “Elderberry. I’m already aware of the fact that we missed dinner, and dessert.”_
> 
> _“No, you idiot,” Severus says at his most caustic. “That’s a raw example of the plant and berry. All but one species of elderberry is poisonous if it isn’t cooked first, and even that exception can make you ill if ingested raw.”_
> 
> _“I don’t think this is in regards to a literal poisoning.” Salazar is studying the card with his bearded chin clasped in his hand. “Does anyone know what that man’s wand looks like?”_
> 
> _“Fifteen inches, with some oddly carved elderberry designs. Really not the best sort for dueling, not with the weight on it so uneven,” Black says._
> 
> _“Then it’s only a descriptor card for Albus.” Lupin looks relieved. “Nothing else.”_
> 
> _“Probably. Or his wand is involved in some important future event.”_

* * *

**Of a Linear Circle, book VI, chapter Gifts, written by flamethrower:**

> _He glares at the deck and then draws three cards, laying them out on the table._
> 
> _Every single one of them is solid black._
> 
> _Severus looks thwarted, and well on his way to infuriated. “There are no black cards in this deck.”_
> 
> _“No. There aren’t.” Nizar inclines his head at the deck. “Draw three more. Same question.”_
> 
> _Three more cards. All of them black._
> 
> _“What does that mean?” Minerva asks, baffled. She’s never heard of such a thing before, and unlike Professor Thorn’s hated, useless teaching, she received decent Divination lessons from Thorn’s predecessor._
> 
> _“I’ve the same. Black water.”_

* * *

**Of a Linear Circle, book VIII, chapter Concessions, written by flamethrower:**

> _One card is the blackness Salazar described. The second card is a blue lotus. The third is a scythe._
> 
> _“There are no scythes in this fucking deck,” Severus utters in a flat voice._
> 
> _“There are no black cards, either, and yet they keep turning up.” Nizar isn’t surprised to see the scythe, though the other cards are baffling. The scythe could be a positive sign…except for the fact that he has yet to figure out how to solve that particular problem._
> 
> _“I’ve no idea at all what that means,” Salazar admits._
> 
> _Sirius rolls his eyes up at the ceiling. “I took Divination for fun. Why am I suddenly the smart one? Darkness, a blue lotus, and a scythe? Wednesday isn’t just a full moon, it’s a full lunar eclipse, you idiots.”_
> 
> _“Blue lotus is often associated with the full moon. Darkness to symbolize the lack of reflected light. A scythe for the red harvest of said light.” Salazar slaps himself in the face. “I’m too old for this.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed te cards;-)


End file.
